by Rev. Melinda Giese
This week, we share an exciting announcement: after many conversations with the Reopening Team, we are looking forward to reopening for in-person worship on November 14! Details and FAQs will be mailed to you next week with all the information you will need to attend worship. Even though worship will look different than it did prior to the pandemic, we are incredibly grateful for the ability to gather for worship once again.
Early in the pandemic, we hoped that our return to worship would coincide with the end of Covid, and our first service back in the building would feel like a big celebration with singing and hugs, food and fellowship. We now understand that Covid has turned out to be much more complicated than we first imagined. As a church and as individuals, we are instead figuring out ways to live with Covid, learning how to physically connect with one another while still honoring our commitment to do no harm.
As with most transitions, we also know our experience of returning to worship will bring a mix of emotions. The joy of being able to worship in our sanctuary. Sadness as we remember those who have passed away during this long pandemic. The relief of seeing each other and re-engaging with our community. Grief or anger at the toll the pandemic has taken on all our lives. Some of us may feel eager to come back to worship the first Sunday, while others may feel anxiety because of health concerns.
When we return, we will bring these many different emotions into church with us. This range of feelings reminds me of the Psalms, where the prayers alternate between joyful praise and courageous faith to cries of anger or pain. The writers of the Psalms never hold anything back; they trust God with their full selves and their complex feelings, often moving through a wide spectrum of emotions within a single psalm. But in all of it – in their grief or anger, joy or fear – they keep reaching out to God with an expectation that God hears their prayers and God is present with them. In doing so, they model this spiritual work for us as well.
Returning to worship also means that Pastor Cara and I are once again ending this mid-week blog post as we shift gears for reopening. As we work toward a new normal, we pray that God’s strength and healing power will flow through this congregation, bringing all of us a powerful sense of hope and renewal. We pray that our spiritual discoveries during this pandemic will continue to shape us and our church. And we pray that in-person worship will connect us more deeply with one another and with the God who continues to journey alongside us, faithfully guiding us day by day.